Losing grip on best shots didn't stop Lake Mary standout

A year after winning a state tennis championship as a sophomore, Alexa Ricci lost district tournament matches in singles on Monday and doubles on Tuesday.

But to say Ricci's difficult junior year has been disappointing couldn't be further from the truth.

In fact, the courage and spirit she has displayed as a 16-year-old has been every bit as inspiring as the power and potential she showed at 15 when she and former Lake Mary teammate Lexi Aranda won the Class 4A doubles title at Sanlando.

Ricci had a choice to make when nagging right wrist pain flared up in January: play left-handed or don't play at all.

The latter option never had a chance. Ricci put the racket in her opposite hand and started training as a lefty.

"I love the sport so much,'' she said Tuesday. "I just wanted to go out there and give it my all and see how I could do.''

Incredibly, she did well.

Ricci went 4-2 at No. 1 singles in the regular season, playing all but one match left-handed. She lost one match by injury default and another to Port Orange Spruce Creek's Arrice Robinson, who is 15-2.

Ricci stayed on the court even after undergoing surgery three weeks ago to remove a ganglion cyst at the joint where the wrist meets her hand.

"I think she looked at it as another challenge, to see if she could beat some good players left-handed," said veteran Lake Mary coach Scott Reagan. "She did it."

The cyst was discovered last year, but two cortisone shots eased the pain and cleared the way for Ricci to go undefeated at No. 2 singles and with Aranda in doubles in 2011.

Unfortunately, the cyst grew, causing shooting pain every time Ricci unleashed a groundstroke.

The wrist feels better now, and Ricci went down swinging at district as she lost to talented No. 1 singles winner Lisa May of Oviedo and then in doubles against Spruce Creek's tough tandem of Robinson and Meghan Zimmer.

Ricci's righty forehand is coming back, and she lashed some beauties this week. But she can't rip her two-hand backhand yet and resorted to soft slices from that side. Ricci served lefty, simply lofting the ball over the net, because she is not ready to snap her powerful righthanded delivery.

Still beating is a champion's heart.

"I'm extremely happy," Ricci said. "I love that I didn't give up the whole time. I kept fighting through it."

Her season is not over. Lake Mary finished second to Sentinel Super Six No. 2 Spruce Creek in the Class 4A, District 2 tournament, meaning the Rams are alive going into region play Tuesday.

It is highly unlikely they can topple Spruce Creek to get to state the following week, but Ricci insists it could happen.

This girl doesn't give up easily.

Maybe the state title is still her proudest moment, but sticking with it through the pain is up there.

Extra points

Dr. Phillips (5-0) flag football quarterback Hannah Schaible handles jet lag like she sheds pass-rushers. She got back from a school trip to Italy on Monday night and touched down on the flag football field a day later with five scoring passes in a 41-0 win over Freedom. That gives the junior all-state QB 22 TD tosses this season. . . .

ESPN ranked Montverde Academy (23-4) No. 9 in its final basketball rankings and pegged the Eagles as a potential preseason No. 1 with 2010-11 national Freshman Player of the Year Dakari Johnson (6-11) waiting in the wings to join a lineup led by rising senior point guard Kasey Hill.